Remnants of the Heart
by belle-noire20
Summary: Kairi was left with nothing but a name and a face. [SoraKairiRoxas]


**Remnants of the Heart**

The day had finally lapsed into a quiet night. Its silence broken only by the winds breathing chilled whispers and crickets singing their nocturnal songs. Scattered stars pierced through the darkness in the sky. The moon revealed only its crescent shape, and its light danced along the landscape.

Kairi sighed, looking at the still scene through her bedroom window. She knew she should have fallen asleep just as the sun had done. There she was, lying in bed with open staring at nothing. Her mind was restless like a stream, channeling towards innumerable thoughts, and each of them holding many questions within their depths.

She shifted under her sheets and found herself facing her nightstand. Her eyes landed on a small object beside the lamp. She then pushed herself to sit up, and she leaned towards the edge of the bed to carefully take the object in her hands. Kairi looked at it with fondness while lightly fondling its rippling surface with her fingers. The shells she held, tied together to form a star, with one of the edges having lines to make a smiling face. Kairi closed her eyes. Thinking of her lucky charm would undoubtly cause Sora to enter her mind.

She remembered intrusting this trinket to him the moment they had made their promise. They would always remember each other. Kairi had kept that memory in her heart, along with the hope that neither she nor Sora would change. It was a promise not easily forgotten, because her heart wouldn't let it go.

The heart held unwavering strength, refusing to move from its stance. But no mountain-no matter how unyielding the earth or how tall it stood-could stop water from carving new paths through it. The heart was no different.

Nothing could stop change.

Kairi's heart wouldn't let her forget, but Sora's face, his eyes, and his voice had faded anyway. And with time, even his name vanished. All that was left was the shadow of a promise. Was her heart failing her?

No.

But Kairi kept waiting for something, anything to help her remember. She wanted the light to come back to her, to part the darkness that had clouded her memories. She had wondered for so long.

Then finally she heard _his_ voice.

Somehow, amongst the nothingness, she had crossed paths with him. Who he was or how he had found her, she did not know the answer. But he somehow knew of the boy she had forgotten. Kairi heard his voice only for a moment, and she was left with but a name.

Roxas.

Who was Roxas?

Turning back to face her window once more, Kairi thinks back on the passing events earlier that day, back on Destiny Islands.

* * *

They were watching the sun sink towards the horizon and casting its light at the sky, turning it into deep oranges and reds. They listened to the sound of the sea thrusting its waves to lap the shores, and the call of many gulls circling the swaying trees. Sora stood leaning on the fence bordering the tree house. Kairi sat peacefully on the stairs near him, and looked up at they sky, smiling that the scenery. The mere sight of it had stirred a memory. 

"We should go back to visit someday." She said abruptly, causing the boy to look back to her direction.

"Huh? Back where?"

"Twilight Town." She still kept her attention to the evening sky. It looked so much like the town she had so briefly visited. She cleared her mind and filled it with the distant sound of a train whistle, and the presence of three familiar figures.

"We should go back to see everyone," she continued. "I haven't been there long, but I got to meet some great friends. You should know them, Sora: Hayner, Pence, and Olette? They told me that you met with them, that's why I wanted to stay with them in case you came back. Then… well, nevermind. But just think if we see them again. It would be great, don't you think…?"

It wasn't until that moment that Kairi turned to face Sora, and she was surprised at what she saw. His hair; it looked as though the sun had poured its color onto it, turning it golden blonde. And his eyes, as they were looking downward, they seemed more withdrawn and elusive. Kairi wasn't even sure if it was still Sora she was watching.

He looked at his open palms. Were they trembling?

"I thought I knew them…" Kairi heard him whisper. "Or maybe there was never really anything there."

"What do you mean?"

There was something different about his voice, something she couldn't recognize. When Sora had gone quiet, Kairi wondered whether she had brought up a bad topic for conversation. When his silence began to take its toll on her, she brought herself to stand up in front of him. She slightly leaned forward with her head tilted to the side, showing her concern.

"Are you okay, Sora?"

He then looked at her, and in a blink of an eye his lips had curved into a smile. "I'm fine, Kairi. Don't worry about it."

Kairi felt herself relax when she heard Sora's voice regain its…enthusiasm. She was seeing Sora again.

The young boy turned back to face the sunset. He closed his eyes, shutting out everything but the wind and the sea. Kairi went to stand beside him, quietly contemplating on the cause of her friend's awkward behavior.

"You feel like staying here a little longer?" Sora then asked, his gaze never leaving the sight of the eventide.

"Sure…" The red-haired girl turned to look at him once more.

"I want to look back some more."

"Alright."

Neither one of them spoke again, only watching the last light of the sun fade behind the seascape.

* * *

Kairi knew at that moment it was not Sora she had seen. There was something there, something dwelling in those spirited blue eyes she was used to seeing. There was something enigmatic within his voice and his words. Kairi couldn't place why there had been such a reaction. 

She thought of the threesome she had made friends with in Twilight Town. Sora knew them, that much was certain, but to be so melancholy at the mention of their names? Kairi then thought of Sora's face, found herself studying every detail she could remember, until she realized whom the face really belonged to.

Roxas.

Kairi wore a sullen look. Once again she was left with but a name and a face.

Once again, she was left to wonder.

But this time was different.

This time, she wouldn't wait. She would dive into the heart, where she was certain they would cross paths again.

_The End.

* * *

A/N: Beat Kingdom Hearts II over the Christmas holidays, and was upset that we got to play with Roxas so little. Anyway, if people think Kairi is a little off-character in this, that's fine, but I personally think that Kairi's the type of person who can be intuitive with people, and if she wants to get to know them, she'll want to know the real thing. Hence, she thinks of Roxas as a part of Sora she feels the need to know about. _


End file.
